Cammie Healy - Jennifer Foor Page 0,13

key to enter the home. Set up like someone used to live there, I flipped on a light switch to discover there wasn’t power. I took out my cell phone and coasted the room with it, searching for evidence or a simple reason he’d bring me to such a place.

The door whined as it opened, James standing with his hands full of bags. I headed over and took one so he wouldn’t drop it. “Where are we? You said we were going out.”

“I said it was a special place.” He led me to the kitchen, sitting the bags down as he continued explaining. “This is the special place. It’s ours, per se. It used to be for a frat, but they lost their sanction. The college keeps it as a tax write off. Not many people know it exists. No one has lived here for quite some time. Ten years ago this was the place to come. Now it’s just an empty shell of what used to be, much like my life has been until you came into it.”

He held out his hand for me to take. As soon as I did he was pulling me into his arms. His kiss was slow and coaxed. He knew how to settle my suspicions, seducing me with his charm, leaving me with little doubt. In my eyes, in this very moment, nothing existed but the two of us. I was caught up in the idea of being with someone with stature. He claimed to be lost until I’d come into his life. What woman doesn’t want to feel needed? He had me in the palm of his hand. Like a lost puppy, I was enthralled by his attention. Wherever he ventured I wanted to follow. Drunk on desire, I’d accepted his advances. This was where I believed I was meant to be, in his arms, experiencing what it was like to fall hopelessly in love with the idea of becoming more.

It was the high; the irrational waves of exhilaration I yearned for. I’d been alone too long to dismiss this as a dangerous scenario. He was there for my entertainment, my pure enjoyment.

James led me up a staircase. I could see an incandescent light radiating from one of the rooms down a long hallway. He said nothing while guiding me toward it, giving me no hints as to what was waiting.

Taken back by the surprise, I stood next to him in the doorway and scanned the room. Candles were lit surrounding the bed, which looked to have been from another home. Even in the dim light I could tell the linens were fresh. The covers were pulled down to be inviting, the flickering of the flames setting a romantic ambiance. “You did this for me?” I asked.

“I did it for us,” he suggested while pulling me back in his arms. “I need to be with you, Cammie. I want this, don’t you?”

I nodded, accepting a long awaiting tongue-filled kiss.

He backed away, breaking our embrace. “Let me look at you.”

I stood in place, feeling like I was on display for his wandering eyes. He took me in, starting at my face then gradually coursing down to my ankles. I watched his tongue come out and lick over his lips, leaving a wet trace. “I’m never going to want to leave.”

I let one of the straps of my blouse fall down. “Maybe I won’t want you to.”

He shrugged and shook his head. “I can’t stay the night. We can’t give her a reason to be suspicious. I need to take my time with you, but I’m racing against the clock. Tell me you’re okay if I have to walk away once we’re done here.”

To be honest, I wasn’t. No woman wants to hear that the man she’s about to sleep with is going to run out on her as soon as they’re done. “I’m not gong to lie. Just hearing that makes me want to go home.”

He sighed. “I can’t say it’s easy to know I can’t stay with you. Trust me, I’d rather be with you then any other place.”

“Saying it doesn’t make it easier, James. I’m going against everything I believe in to be with you. There are limits for me.”

“What if I can come back? I’ll spend the evening with you, go home to save face, and come back as soon as I can get away.”

I shrugged. “You want me to stay here alone?” Was he insane? I felt like I